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The Skinny: Islanders 3, Flyers 1

by
Eric Hornick
/ New York Islanders

Game 22

Isles 3, Flyers 1

Kyle Okposo scored 5:14 into the second period to break a 1-1 tie and that held up for the winning goal as the Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 before a crowd of 13,027 at Barclay's Center. The win snapped the Isles' 2-game losing streak and gave the Isles at least a point in all five divisional games this season (3-0-2).

The Isles had scored only 7 first period goals this season before scoring eight over the last seven games… Kyle Okposo's goal extended his point streak to six games (1-7-8); his assist streak ended at 5 games…The Isles have scored at least one first period goal in seven straight games and at least one third period goal in five straight games…Casey Cizikas' shorthanded goal was the 3rd of his career, and the first Isles SH goal scored at Barclay's Center…Both Nick Leddy and Matt Martin were involved in 2nd period fights; it was the Isles' first multi-fight game of the season…The Isles' 25 points through 22 games is their second-highest point total at this stage of the season in the last 8 years (32 points last season)…Frans Nielsen's empty net goal broke a tie with Brock Nelson for 2nd place on the team in goals. Nielsen now has nine goals, one fewer than John Tavares…Tavares extended his point streak to four games while Anders Lee and Travis Hamonic extended their streaks to three; Lee also has five points (1-4-5) in his last five games…The Isles are 9-1-1 when they lead after two periods…The Flyers have been held to 2 goals or fewer through regulation play in 8 straight games…Jaroslav Halak recorded his 44th win as an Islander (44-21-5), tying Garth Snow (44-52-13) for 11th place on the Isles' all-time goalie win list.

Back into a Playoff Spot

The Isles win, coupled with a loss by New Jersey, pushes the Isles back into the top wild card spot in the East at US Thanksgiving with an identical record as the Detroit Red Wings (11-8-3). The Isles have a better goal differential than Detroit. Over the past 7 seasons, 48 of the 56 teams to make the Eastern Conference playoffs were in a playoff spot on Thanksgiving Day.

The Shots:

Isles 9-12-15=36

Philadelphia 8-6-4=18

Home and Road

The Islanders are 11-8-3 overall; 7-4-2 at home and 4-4-1 on the road.

Philadelphia is 7-10-5 overall; 4-4-3 at home and 3-6-2 on the road.

By Division

The Isles are 3-0-2 in Division games and are 8-8-1 in games against other divisions. They are 0-6-0 vs. the Atlantic Division, 3-1-1 vs. Central Division, and 5-1-0 vs. the Pacific Division.

The Isles finished last season 21-6-3 against the Met and 26-22-4 against other Divisions.

In the Nets

Jaroslav Halak rebounded from his shortest start as an Islander to make 17 saves and improve his record to 6-4-1. Halak is 8-3-0 against the Flyers.

Steve Mason made 33 but falls to 3-7-4 on the season and 5-2-3 in his career against the Isles.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 0-2 on the power play, while Philadelphia was 1-5; the Isles did score their third shorthanded goal of the season.

The Isles power play is 1-24 (4.2%) over the last seven games after opening the season 9-36 (25%) while the penalty killers have allowed 10 goals in 32 times short over the last ten games (68.7%).

The Isles are 5-2-2 when they score at least one power play goal and 5-7-1 when they do not. The Isles are 5-5-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 6-3-2 when they do not.

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 10-2-0 when they score at least three goals (including shootout winners) and are 1-6-3 when they do not. The Isles were 40-8-4 when they scored at least three goals (including SO winners) last season.

One Goal Games

The Isles are 3-3-3 in games decided by a single goal including 2-3-0 in regulation. They are 1-2 in games decided in overtime and are 0-1 in shootouts. The Isles are 3-2 in games in which an empty-net goal turns a 1 goal game into a 2-goal game.

First Goal

The Isles are 8-3-1 when they score first and are 3-5-2 when they allow the opening goal.

Second to The One

Jack Capuano is the 2nd winningest coach in Islander history. Capuano is 176-156-49 behind the Islander bench. Among the 9 New York teams, only the Giants' Tom Coughlin and the Yankees' Joe Girardi have led their respective teams longer than Capuano.

Most games coached (Islanders):

1. Al Arbour 1,500

2. Jack Capuano 381

3. Mike Milbury 191

4. Terry Simpson 187

5. Scott Gordon 181

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1. Al Arbour 740

2. Jack Capuano 176

3. Terry Simpson 81

4. Peter Laviolette 77

5. Ted Nolan 74

They Tweeted It

@JustinSobieski The @NYIslanders scored 3 goals tonight and they did a great job tonight.

John Tavares won 8 of 14 for the Isles but his teammates won only 11 of 35; Claude Giroux won 14 of 20 for Philadelphia.

The Isles won less than 50% of the draws in each period, including only 4 of 16 in the third period.

The Isles won 13 of 35 draws at even strength, 1 of 3 on the power play and 5 of 11 on the penalty kill.

Heavy Hitters

Isles 37, Philadelphia 30. Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 7 hits.

Fights

Nick Leddy fought Claude Giroux in the 2nd period. It was the first fight of Leddy's career. Later in the session, Matt Martin fought Wayne Simmonds for the 4th time in their careers (more than any opponent) Season total – 5 (Martin-3, Boychuk, Leddy).

Blocked Shots

The Isles were credited with 21 blocked shots; Brock Nelson and Brian Strait led the team with four each.

The Isles lead the season series 1 game to 0 and 2 points to 0. The teams will next meet on December 8th in Philadelphia.

The Isles have won four straight home games against Philadelphia for the first time since 1998.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers dropped their second straight game, falling to the Albany Devils 3-1 in the New York capital. Ryan Strome had Bridgeport's only goal as the Sound Tigers fall to 5-2-1-0 in their last eight games.

The Isles head to the Sunshine State for a pair of games, beginning Friday night in Sunrise against Jaromir Jagr and the Florida Panthers.

The Panthers won last season's series 2 games to 1, with each team owning a shootout win. The Isles are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games against Florida, including 3-1-1 in their last five games on the road against the Cats.